The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma
is opposing plans to turn a sacred mountain into a gravel mine.

Tribal members go to Longhorn Mountain to pray and collect cedar. The owners of the site agreed to lease the land to a rock crushing company.

“This is only place in the world this cedar grows. It has it’s own unique smell, and it’s what God, he gave us this sacred mountain and sacred cedar, and we hold it dearly,” tribal member Joe Fish told KFOR-TV.

Some residents oppose the mine, which could start operations by the end of the summer.